4

Chapter 4

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

2402

Izuku loved magic.

Since Aurora had the same kind of magic circuits, it was easy for him to learn by example. It helped that reinforcement was simple as well. 

To enhance an object, Izuku focused the new power running through his body into a steady flow. The magic passed into the object he was touching, increasing it's durability and power. Izuku just needed to understand the structure of whatever he was reinforcing. His reinforcement flowed out of him, so it couldn't be used to enhance himself. However, since Izuku fought with a weapon, it was perfect. 

Within a year, Izuku had enough control to enhance his trusty staff as well as the practice to sustain it in combat. His spars with Aurora started to intensify now that when he whacked her with a stick, it actually did something. 

Humanity was given 5 years to develop their new abilities and get used to the idea of monsters. Now that Izuku finally had his own powers, he threw himself into training them. 

Every time he used his magic, his total mana rose along with how powerful the enhancement was. Izuku needed enough mana to completely work through whatever was being enhanced. For example, using his magic on a building took a lot of effort and concentration when he started practicing, but within 5 years he had enough mana to do so easily.

Izuku found that it was far harder to flow mana into non solids. According to Aurora, the amount of time Izuku had put into it was already more than any creature before. No one had tried to use it on anything other than weapons.

It took another decade to make progress, but Izuku was patient, excited. 10 years wasn't anything to him at this point anyway. 

Reinforcing liquids was incredibly interesting once he managed it. He practiced on the ocean, mana moving from his bare feet into the ocean, water becoming more solid as he worked. With concentration, Izuku could walk on water freely, manipulating its shape as long as he was in contact.

With just a bit of effort, he seemingly had an entirely separate ability- controlling water. 

Just how far could Izuku develop this ability?

2453

Izuku's life had fallen into a routine. Maybe that was just how he lived, or it was his human mind adapting to living far longer than normal.

He always woke up at the same time, going through the morning on almost pure muscle memory. The ache of eating alone most of the week never truly faded, but Izuku rarely noticed it now. 

Training made him feel alive, the familiar feeling of using up everything he had bliss. Every year he added to the physical training as his body adapted, and going through the regime was something he knew as well as breathing.

Izuku loved sparring with Aurora. She didn't need to hold back anymore and could unleash the full force of her magic on him, her rainbow leaving giant craters in the sand. Today was a Saturday; she would arrive soon.

He didn't have any other friends to reference, but he did know how happy she made him every week. Izuku was happy with what they had; a comfortable friendship that made him feel like all the centuries were worth it. So he wouldn't risk telling her, ruining whatever they had. Aurora was too kind to push him away for something so simple, but the fact was that he knew nothing about divine courtship. She might not even consider dating a human.

There was also the reality that his romantic experiences merely consisted of a hundred years of shoujo manga. Izuku made the choice to put off his confession for another year.

He was great at the long game after all.

Izuku heard the familiar snap behind him. He felt a small smile rise up on his face as he once again turned to greet Aurora-

-then Izuku froze in complete confusion.

On the sand in front of him was a woman he had never seen before(which didn't exactly mean much, since Izuku only knew one person) The feeling of power radiating off of her was almost tangible though, and reminded him of Aurora. Izuku guessed she was a goddess. 

Besides her aura, she seemed completely different from his companion. While Aurora's hair was long and purple, her's was short and blonde. She wore a simple yet beautiful thin piece of red armour, made of some flexible metal he couldn't name. Izuku couldn't read the symbols adorned on it. Her red eyes seemed to stare right through him, and as he watched, they narrowed into a powerful glare.

Ah. Staring was rude right?

"Izuku Midoriya?" she said, less of a question and more of a statement. 

"Yes?" Izuku nodded, confused.

"Sekhmet." Sekhmet responded simply. 

Her right hand lifted slowly, tightening into a fist. 

"Let's fight." It wasn't a question, but an order. Sekhmet's voice wasn't cruel, but low and powerful; akin to a commander. Slowly, her words began to set in.

Izuku blinked, utterly lost. "Wha-"

Sekhmet blurred forward, almost faster than he could comprehend. Thankfully, years of practice kicked in and he crossed his arms, just in time to block her fist.

Izuku felt the blow throughout his entire body, the impact sending him tumbling across the sand like a ragdoll. He came to a stop a hundred meters away. Izuku caught a flicker in the corner of his eyes and immediately rolled to the side, a vicious axe kick carving into his spot where he was. His eyes widened. The pure physical strength eclipsed his own easily.

Sekhmet kept up her offense, a powerful series of punches and kicks that took all of his concentration to even keep up with. The fight felt almost like a dance. Every move she made was perfectly calculated, not a single bit of energy wasted. He ducked under a kick, but there was already a punch heading his way. Izuku lashed out, but she was already behind him. Sekhmet was always one step ahead.

But he could adapt. Apologizing to his stomach in advance, he stepped into her next punch. It was easier when he was prepared for it, but it still hurt like hell.

Wincing, Izuku's next strike intentionally swung too wide, missing completely. But as Sekhmet started to respond, Izuku twisted, grabbing his staff from his back and swinging in one fluid movement.

"Stance One: Sweep"

His trusty weapon moved in a low arc, far faster than any attack he used before. The metal struck her ankle with every bit of his strength before she could react. She didn't fall, but the power behind the attack forced her to stumble, off balance. An opening.

Izuku lunged forward, aiming for her jaw, but Sekhmet was already recovering.

At inhuman speeds, she caught the blow and countered with a palm strike, landing a direct hit to his chest.

The breath was knocked out of him completely, and he could feel something crack as he fell backwards onto the beach. Were those his ribs?

That probably wasn't very good.

Izuku took a moment to catch his breath, panting. Everything seemed to hurt, and his arms ached as he gripped his staff to stand up.

Izuku felt a grin come on to his face despite the pain, pure joy at such a challenging fight. Aurora was an excellent fighter, but she mainly fought with magic at long distances. Sekhmet, on the other hand, fought with pure hand to hand abilities, exactly like him.

She used the Divinity style as well, but instead of mixing in other combat forms Sekhmet seemed to have mastered Divinity alone and pushed it to it's furthest point. She wasn't using any magic; probably to hold herself back(and wasn't that a terrifying thought?). Izuku struggled to his feet, swaying but ready, his weight supported by the cool metal of his staff.

Sekhmet waited for him to stand, patient. He couldn't read her expression very well, but he thought that there was something akin to approval in her eyes when he finally stood up.

So this must be a test of some sort. Izuku had no idea what the trial was, but naturally, he would do his best to meet it.

And that meant using everything he had.

Reaching out with his free hand, Izuku concentrated, mana flowing from his palm into the air. 

The space around him tinted purple as the reinforcement took effect. Ten violet chains began to solidify, outlined by his mana, surrounding his enemy. 

If liquids could be manipulated, then why not gasses? Reinforcing the atmosphere was incredibly difficult- flowing mana through air was slippery. But if Izuku was anything, it was patient, and now it was paying off.

Izuku clenched his fist and his chains responded, nine of them enveloping Sekhmet like an angry blanket in an instant. Knowing this wouldn't hold her for long, he blitzed forward, muscles screaming in protest. Izuku condensed the wind surrounding him into a whip, lashing it at her.. 

Sekhmet broke through the chains instantly, sidestepping the wind whip gracefully. Izuku stayed out of her range, whips striking from all sides. 

She raised an eyebrow, unimpressed, then she moved, faster than Izuku could see. He jumped back on instinct, and the kick missed his face by inches. She attacked and they fell into rhythm again, but now Izuku could feel himself slowing down. Her next punch cut into his cheek as he dodged, his next block almost making him lose his grip on the staff. He was completely exhausted, but from her movements, Sekhmet was barely breaking a sweat. 

Izuku played his last card, wrapping her ankle with the final air chain. With all of his remaining strength, he swung the chain wide, launching Sekhmet into the ocean. Izuku caught her expression finally changing, eyes widening in pure surprise as she landed with a splash far away from the shore.

Izuku rushed to the water before she could surface and took a deep breath. In the next second, a giant amount of sea water turned solid. Sekhmet was trapped.

In the absence of waves crashing onto the shore, everything was silent. 

Izuku felt the headache piercing his mind from the mana usage, but gritted his teeth and maintained it. Izuku just needed to hold her until-

An ear splitting crack echoed around the beach as the ocean shattered, breaking him out of his thoughts.

Sekhmet leapt out of the water easily, crashing into the sand in front of him. Without a pause, she charged once more.

Another hour passed of fierce combat, until Izuku finally ran out of stamina.

He fell backwards onto the sand. He knew his limit, and he had gone far passed it. He let go of his staff, letting it rest in the sand beside him, letting out a raspy breath that almost became a cough. His injuries were ridiculous- he would probably be screaming when the adrenaline faded. His arms were in pretty bad shape, and it was hard to breath. Izuku doubted he could stand, and he had spent all of his mana.

Sekhmet looked down at him, then to his surprise, nodded in approval.

"Good fight." 

"T-Thanks?" Izuku said, confused.

The edges of his vision were slowly turning black.

Was he going to die? 

As if reading his thoughts, Sekhmet snapped her fingers. Now, Izuku did scream as his bones remended and his broken body stitched up. It hurt just as much as being wrecked in the first place. But Izuku did feel a bit better as the pain started to recede. The exhaustion, unfortunately, stayed. 

Ignoring him, Sekhmet pulled a small, circular device out of her pocket, vaguely futuristic. She tapped it, and Izuku realized it was for communication when seconds later, a responding snap sounded on the beach.

Aurora arrived, hair shimmering in the evening light. Izuku absently noticed the sun was setting, and wondered just how long he had spent being beat to a pulp. 

She looked to him first, her eyebrows scrunched together in concern. Izuku stared back. Their silent conversation was short, and Aurora's gaze turned softer for a moment. Then the tender expression was gone as her head whipped around to glare at Sekhmet.

"Why have you come, sister?" Aurora asked, though it sounded more like an accusation than a question. Her beautiful eyes darkened.

In contrast to Aurora, Sekhmet was completely impassive, her face not giving anything away. "I needed to test him." Sekhmet stated simply, already turning to leave.

"Besides, the human passed. And he's clearly alive."

The last statement was thrown his way casually, with a short glance.

So Izuku had been right; she had been testing him.

With that, Sekhmet vanished in a burst of red light. One day, Izuku was going to figure out how to do the teleport thing, and getting around would be much easier.

Izuku stared at the spot where the blonde goddess had stood for a moment as he still laid unmoving on the sand. He sighed.

"Of course, the first new person I meet after centuries tries to kill me." 

Aurora laughed, a bright sound that filled the silent beach. Izuku felt lighter somehow, despite how heavy his eyelids felt. She sat down next to him on the sand.

"To be fair, I've tried to kill you too, Izuku." Aurora responded, eyes twinkling.

Izuku turned his head towards her, slightly confused. Aurora was beaming , a wide smile stretching across her face. 

This was the happiest he'd seen her.

"Well yeah, but that was completely different." Izuku said, his own smile forming just from being near her.

Izuku loved fighting; it is part of who he is. He wasn't scared of being injured, or broken.

But Izuku was scared of death. There were so many things he still wanted to do. He wanted to see humanity return. He wanted to improve himself. He wanted to spend time with Aurora.

With so much time, suddenly losing all of it was a horrifying thought. 

He pushed away the turn his thoughts had taken. It didn't help that the adrenaline had faded, leaving his tired body completely spent.

Izuku blinked, feeling his head resting on something far more comfortable than the rough sand. Aurora looked down at him, expression impossibly soft. She stroked his hair back(now completely white, he hadn't even realized).

He should be embarrassed, but Izuku felt so tired , and laying in her lap he didn't need to force himself to stay awake. Besides, she would probably have to leave soon anyway, his traitorous mind reasoned.

So Izuku let go, feeling everything fade away.

Izuku was used to waking up almost everywhere.

It was rare that he slept in his bed, usually falling asleep wherever he ended up. His poor spine had adapted to couches, libraries, research labs, and dojos. There had been too many times where he was too lazy to make it to a hotel and just laid a pillow onto the cold street. 

He couldn't remember waking up to another person. Reasonably, he would have been woken up by his mother before humanity vanished, but it was so long ago. 

So when Izuku opened his eyes the day after meeting Sekhmet, he thought he was dreaming. His head was still resting on Aurora's knee, and she was watching the sun rise, orange light across her face with the feeling of being content almost radiating off of her. 

This was real.

He must have shifted, because Aurora turned to look down at him. 

There were so many things he wanted to ask(was he still in her lap? Oh gods, had she been here the entire night?), but when he tried to put it all into words, what came out was a breathless "How?".

"You passed, remember?" Aurora asked.

Izuku's eyes widened. "The trial?"

"Sekhmet is the strongest. Holding out that long against her means that you are considered to be on the level of a god, despite being human. So Earth no longer needs a messenger to keep Heaven updated." Aurora was proud , Izuku realized. Of him . 

Heaven no longer needed a messenger. Aurora didn't need to report to Heaven every week, and leave at the end of every Saturday. Aurora could-

"Does this mean you can stay?" Izuku couldn't help asking, hoping. 

Aurora's smile widened, reminding him of yesterday when he wondered just what had made her so happy. This time though, he understood why. 

Izuku felt the exact same.

"I will." 

They watched the sunrise together, for the first time. It wouldn't be the last.

Then the peaceful silence broke.

"Wait, that was your sister? "

Notes:

Sorry for taking like 10 years to update, I'll try to update more often.

Please tell me if this was too cheesy!